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A weird game of Wiff Waff at the Table of Dreams for Sunday morning. Another couple were already playing when we rocked up. GOOD EFFORT, etc. We decided to take a slight detour and wander around the park for a short while. There was plenty of activity.

SHOUT OUT Weird Wiv Town Council, who in-between attempting to piss off ‘activists’ (erm, residents) by cutting down trees and closing community bicycle kitchens, have actually done something half decent. The new outdoor gym at the top of the field is finally open.

We spent ten minutes or so putting ourselves through the various workouts. Some of the equipment seems to be aimed at the top end of the fitness market. The settings are all wrong. I’m no peak Gym Bunny, but I should be able to lift the bench press and dips machines. Nope. Oh well.

Elsewhere and a game of boules was breaking out on the new court by the Table of Dreams. A young mother was setting up a Bank Holiday outdoor party, with plenty of games, party bags etc. Good luck, Madam.

We had around ten minutes of play on the Table of Dreams before I had to bugger off. We decided to focus on the warm up, inspired by our visit to the World Champs earlier in the week. We were both in awe of the elite players as they warmed up with speed rallies of a forehand and backhand to opposite sides of the table.

Spoiler: it’s not as easy as it looks.

To the Essex Sports Arena! …on Saturday afternoon as the Rebs women tipped off against London Lions in a home court play off quarter-final. Having secured a regular season fourth placed finish - the highest in the club’s history - the reward was to welcome Ldn Lions to Our House.

And what a welcome. The theme for the afternoon was black out. Rebs fans were encouraged to wear all black to create an intimidating backdrop for the arrival of Ldn Lions. It was a good opportunity to air my black shorts for the first time this season.

The Rebs organisation had done a great job in mobilising the fan base with such short notice ahead of the game. There were queues stretching out of the Arena and towards the Sports Centre just ahead of tip off. The women’s team has managed to build a strong family following around Sunny Colch.

Rebs were a little short-benched. Not dressed for the home team were Nat Chau and Leah McDerment. Both are experienced players who have plenty to offer with such a young team assembled.

Tip off came, and the Rebs game plan soon became clear: Shock and Awe. Rebs raced to an impressive 30-14 lead, come the first buzzer. The challenge would be to keep up this relentless pace throughout the rest of the game.

Ldn Lions came out for the second quarter playing a more physical game. They tried to counter the pace of the Rebs by roughing them up. It didn’t work. There’s a reason why the Rebs have a home court record this season of P9, W9: the speed in which they move the ball around is unplayable at times.

Rhema Ogele was superb, having her best game so far in a Rebs jersey. A huge three pointer from Captain CP gave the Rebs an impressive 61-27 lead at the break. The players were cheered off after what had been one of the most dominant halves of basketball that I’ve ever seen. Outstanding.

The aim after the break was to reach 100 points, and not to allow the Lions back into the game. The pace of the scoring slowed down slightly in the third, with Rebs leading 84-44 at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter was all about keeping calm, but continuing to take your chances. A play-off semi was within reach. SHOUT OUT Coach Cookson who used his bench wisely. The home crowd reacted strongly when the final finishing five players were the youngest in the club. They didn’t let the team down, either.

And so a very, very impressive 93-72 home court win for the Rebs. The women have been a joy to watch this season with their speed, skill and blend of experience and rookie players. A home record of P10, W10 is well deserved.

Up the Rebs!

To The Oval! …on Friday morning for Day 1 of the ‘rrey Vs Sussex. Did you think I would stay away? Not a chance, Comrades. Nothing had changed - the way I like it. We even managed to blag my FAVE seats in all of S Ldn, perched up on high in the top tier of the SSE, with S Ldn stretching out all around us to enjoy.

We also chose the perfect day for a cricket jolly day out. The blue sky up above was tempered with a light breeze blowing across SE11. Everything was ideal - apart from us missing the first wicket. Whoops.

Surrey won the toss and took to the field. there has been plenty of debate already this season about the state of The Oval wicket. Bowling has become problematic. Various technical reasons have been given for the failure for Surrey to skittle sides out, as was the case two, three and four years ago.

We needn’t have worried on Friday morning. The ‘rrey were aggressive from the start, with Jordan Clarke even taking a fifer before luncheon. Matt Fisher backed him up brilliantly from the Vauxhall End, with Reece Topley waiting in the wings whenever the double act needn’t a break.

Plans for wiff waff at The Oval Table of Dreams at luncheon were abandoned. It was just too bloody hot. I was semi-suited and booted with a posho jacket as well. Instead we retired to the relative shade of the first tier of the SSE.

Sussex came out after luncheon and regrouped. I hit the BOOZE. M then rocked up and joined us for the final session. It felt like I had never been away…

Chin chin.

This rambles an awful lot. It’s an album that has ambition, as well as staying power. Unfortunately I wasn’t around for the full journey. It was all very competent and technically strong. It was just far too heavy for me. Bailed after track 3.

⭐ ⭐

The team news drops. Morato. Oh dear. And so here we are, playing our first major European semi-final in 42 years - which still sounds utterly BONKERS to say - with the third choice centre half propping up the defence. Erm, is Chetts still match fit? He’d be guaranteed an unlikely European goal, right?

Elsewhere and Matty Cash returned to the World Famous, wearing the claret and blue of Villa. I wonder how he must have felt, having spent eight years at the club in the Championship years, and then returns to play on the European stage?

And what of Omari Hutchinson? Remember he was binned out of the original Europa League squad in a final act of bitterness by Nuno as part of his tit for tat with Edu. And yet here was Hutchinson, starting for Forest in a European semi-final. His selection was well-deserved, as well.

There was a fantastic atmosphere ahead of KO. Forza had done the old ground proud once more. You can watch in awe at how some of the major European power houses handle a European night with all the pre-match razzmatazz. But the World Famous City Ground doesn’t lend itself to flashing lights and stadium stretching tifos. It’s all about the fans, innit.

The game itself was something of a tense watch for me. I admit that BOOZE got the better of me, plus also a very poorly timed personal phone call that I had to take midway through the first half. Whoops.

MGW was nullified by Villa playing in his hybrid No.10 out wide role. Anderson was immense, as ever. Morato managed not to fuck it up. My main hope was for Forest to remain in the tie ahead of the second leg. Please don’t collapse with a humiliating scoreline against what is a very, very decent Villa team.

I needn’t have worried. The plan from Vitor appeared to be sit tight, hold your nerve, and take your chances if and when they come. Chris Wood certainly did that. There was only one way that pen was going to be taken it. Just bloody TWAT it. Blimey. We’re only 1-0 up in a European semi-final.

Cometh the hour, cometh the Academy boys. I was actually quite emotional when Ryan Yates, and then Zach Abbott both took to the field to shore things up. Neither player let the club down.

And so we take a 1-0 lead away to Villa Park for the return leg next week. I hope anybody’s not stupid enough to write us off, etc.

I love mixtapes. They remind me of the remix albums from back in the day. There’s no pressure or expectation to come up with something outstanding. They stand alone as a snapshot in time - then you move on to the next project. There’s such a light touch going off here with Noname. Characters drift in and out. The light funk behind the vocals adds a breeze. Very decent.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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via road.cc

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“In the decade of Thatcher from 1980 to 1990, London still built nearly 52,000 council homes. In the decade of Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007, only 280 went up.”

via The Graun

“If Anne Pigalle provided the final, torch‑lit monologue of ZTT’s first great era, then Act were the epilogue — the last fully staged production before the label stepped into a different decade and a different identity.”

The ZTT Collectors Page on Facebook is throwing up some great insight, as well as some musical gems. I wouldn’t claim that I’m a ZTT collector; G Force knitwear and Forest retro kits are bothering my bank account more than rare mid 80’s 12 inches. But Act were a new one on me.

There’s a three hour plus compilation on Spotify. I thought I would give a few tracks a listen on Thursday morning. A couple of hours later and I still hadn’t come up for air.

At a push, Propaganda were my fave ZTT artist. Frankie were the BALLS, Art of Noise in the original guise were the oddities. The brief Grace Jones flirtation is pop perfection.

Overlaying all ZTT artists for this period was the hybrid aesthetics of Trevor Horn’s crisp, industrial production, and Paul Morley’s, ahem, artistic vision.

The Act compilation has all of the above. It could quite easily be Propaganda with a little more pop polish. There’s even a BONKERS cover of Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.

I’m struggling to think of a contemporary label, or even a musical movement, that carries the same ethos and defining principles of early ZTT. Motown had it in spades. Ditto for Factory. ZTT was perhaps the last manifesto label.

I’d love to read a definitive history of the label. I’m surprised that nothing has yet been written. Maybe the magic behind the curtain is best left undisturbed? Careful what you wish for, etc.

With a spare hour or so out on the Eastern fringes of the Olympic Park to spare, I had a second shifty through the Bowie Archives at the V&A Storehouse. I was a little underwhelmed when the Archives first opened last year. I was in search of Bowie, but instead found a very sterile, soulless experience - something that could rarely be said about Bowie himself.

With the hype for the Storehouse having died down, pre-booking tickets are no longer required. Tuesday lunchtime was pretty quiet at the Storehouse. It led to a more relaxed atmosphere, and not the desire or need to read EVERY Bowie artefact on show, clambering to make sure that I hadn’t missed something.

It remains a revolving display of items on show. The bulk of the Archive is still behind closed doors, waiting to come out once the current run of themes and rarities have run their course. There’s no linear or chronological curation. The Archive is all the better for this.

I really enjoyed my return visit, floating between the various cabinets, and taking a pick ‘n’ mix approach to the detail I wanted to zoom in on. One of my favourite items remains the letter penned by Bowie’s old man back in the mid 60’s, giving him a character reference and asking a music mogul to give him a break.

The costumes on show remain the obvious big hitters. I was struck once again at the petite waistline throughout his career - all the way from Ziggy through to the Earthling late 90’s Union Flag branded jacket. I took a few moments to lose myself in the big screen action. Fashion hit the spot for me on Tuesday.

To the Copper Box! …on Tuesday morning for Day 1 of the World Table Tennis Championships. To say that I have been CREAMING myself over this over the past few months is something of an understatement. It may only be the qualifiers for the World Champs, but WOH. These guys play a slightly different variation of the game that we arse around with at the Table of Dreams.

First things first: time to smuggle some food into the Copper Box. The usual crappy Ticketmaster FAQ’s had strict instructions about no food, no drink, bag search bollocks, etc. Arse. It will come as no surprise to read that I’m not the type of fella that is going to pay £15 for a crappy dirty burger within the Arena.

I was loaded up with THREE bars of Lidl’s finest milk chocolate - one of which was a freebie via the app - all tucked away and concealed in places where you really shouldn’t be hiding away chocolate. I hope they don’t melt. The Milky Bars are on me, etc.. I needn’t have worried. The bag search was minimal; there was no body patting down.

We took up our seats in the Copper Box. Seating was unreserved. Shortly after 11am we had the choice of seats for pretty much anywhere in the arena. The event was a little, ahem, undersold. The real action for the World Champs starts over at Wembley Arena in a week’s time. But that’s a right arse on the other side of town for us to get to.

In front of us was twelve courts stretching out around the Copper Box. The first decision was to choose which game to focus on. It soon became clear that multi-screen viewing habits had trained my eyes well. I could follow two - possibly three - games simultaneously. As long as the players weren’t serving at the same time, then my brain wasn’t overloaded.

This was a completely different style of play to what I am use to. Even the warm ups were a little manic. The players were so young as well. It’s frightening to think that they must spend around half their day twatting a wiff waff ball back and forth to achieve their levels of skills. I get a little bored after twenty minutes.

There was some weird observations going off. Some of the players were using hexagonal bats. Blimey. A bit of online snooping later in the day explained how this is now a thing within the sport. There was also the very odd - and almost universal - tactic of the players placing their palm on the table by the net ahead of every shot. I think I’m at home with OCD wiff waff.

We were booked in for the full day of play. This involved two separate sessions. The evening session was scheduled to end at 11pm. I was pretty much done by 7pm, and made my excuses. It was a decent day out, and great to see the skill and variations in play that I don’t normally get to witness.